Halloween is this week.
It’s obviously a beloved holiday because Americans spend more money on Halloween than any other holiday except Christmas.
I’ve wondered in a past blog post whether those in the occult complain about the commercialization of Halloween like Christians do about Christmas.
I’ve written on the history of Halloween.
But as I thought about what I had written in the past, I wondered if maybe I had been too negative about this very popular holiday.
Therefore, in the spirit of being fair and balanced, I’ve decided to list some of the reasons for celebrating Halloween and wanting your children to participate.
Developing a good sense of fear in your children. Halloween is a great opportunity to teach your kids about the importance of fear and the great fun of inciting fear in others. This will come in handy in adulthood as your kids learn to fear loss of their jobs, failure of their marriages, the inability to pay their debts, and personal rejection. Learning about fear will become particularly helpful if they eventually develop an anxiety disorder. If they are going to live in fear as adults, why not get them started early?
Teaching your kids how to blackmail others. The whole concept of “trick or treat” is a great lesson for your kids in how to use threats and coercion to get their way. This will be very useful as they attempt to climb the corporate ladder. Maybe they hear their boss has recently gone to a strip club on the company credit card. With the valuable lessons they learn from Halloween, they will be well-equipped to parlay that little piece of embarrassing information into a raise or promotion . . . . a little corporate trick or treat, if you will.
Developing a curiosity about the occult. Halloween is a great way to encourage a curiosity in your kids about the occult. After all, if Mom and Dad encouraged me to dress up like the devil or a witch, there must not be anything wrong with the whole occult thing, right?
So, I say dress them up as cute little witches and devils and send them out to blackmail your neighbors into giving them candy. After all, how could a little celebration of fear, death and the occult hurt? GS